It Actually Works
The pressure was so crushing I could barely breathe. If I followed my instincts, I’d drop to my knees right now and beg for forgiveness. But….
Declare boldly and shamelessly to Moyong Dahae that you will date both women at the same time.
At this point, the only way for me to survive was to follow the quest. I no longer had any choice.
“I’m just an ordinary part-timer working at President Moyong Sunae’s café?”
“…Huh?”
Moyong Dahae’s expression shifted through a kaleidoscope of emotions at my answer. Shock, rage, disbelief, and then rage again. Damn it, I couldn’t even begin to guess how pissed she was.
“An ordinary part-timer, my ass. You took my precious little sister on her first date to ‘that kind of place’? Do you have any idea how shocked I was when I got the report?”
So that was the real issue after all.
‘Fuck, you said it was fine! You said it was the best option!’
It is fine. It is the optimal path.
If it couldn’t even answer, at least it wouldn’t be so infuriating. This damn thing is so shameless.
Because it is the truth?
It really has a talent for leaving me speechless. Maybe I should start acting like this too?
“Ahem. Try not to think of it too negatively. It was actually a pretty unique date course. Sunae seemed to enjoy it a lot…”
Click.
Before I knew it, a pistol was pointed at my head. For a second I wondered if it was a gas gun. After all, it’s illegal for civilians to own real firearms, right? But… it even had a suppressor attached. Hmm. This looks pretty real.
“Director, should I kill him?”
…Huh? This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
If Master could see me, you would probably act the same way on a daily basis.
Right. You’re invisible to me, but I’m completely visible to these people. I’d completely overlooked that fact. Hahahaha.
‘I’m so fucked.’
Please spare me!
“No, you can’t kill him. Sunae would be devastated… She’s already been through so much, and she has such a fragile heart. Sigh.”
That single sigh carried a lot of meaning. The clearest takeaway was that if I weren’t somewhat precious to Moyong Sunae, she would have snapped my neck like a chicken’s without hesitation. I couldn’t decide whether to call this lucky or karmic retribution.
‘Wouldn’t this whole situation have been resolved cleanly if I’d just dated Hwangbo Ji-eun?’
No.
If you had, Master would be facing an even worse situation than this.
I swear on the name of God.
“……”
When the power of God itself says something like that, I really have no comeback.
‘Fine, fine. I get it.’
Since things had come this far anyway, I had no choice but to keep completing the quest.
“Out of all the men in the world, how did something like you latch onto her? And not only did you go on a date with my sister, you’re also messing around with one of the part-timers who works here?”
In a country called South Korea, does the concept of privacy not exist at all?
No, it doesn’t.
When a chaebol with real power decides to dig into someone, investigating one person is nothing.
That’s just how it is.
It’s not because this is a capitalist society.
It’s always been like this.
“Well… it just kind of happened…?”
There was no point in trying to argue my way out of this, so I decided to just brazen it out.
“Ha, just look at how this bastard talks. What the hell am I supposed to do with him?”
I’m curious about that too. I’d love to know how this is going to end.
“Kim Hyun-woo. Twenty-seven years old. According to the report, you’ve lived a relatively normal life until now… Fine. Maybe it really was just a series of coincidences that led to this. So I’ll give you a chance.”
“A chance?”
“That’s right. A chance to set things right.”
Moyong Dahae held up two fingers, clearly struggling to contain her fury.
“First. You break up with Sunae, quit your part-time job, and never show your face in front of my sister again.”
“That might be difficult. I live in this neighborhood too.”
“Shut your mouth.”
Moyong Dahae ground her teeth audibly before continuing.
“Second. End your relationship with that Hwangbo Ji-eun woman. Honestly, if you do that much, I can understand to some extent. Since Sunae is crazy about you, the chances of you becoming her boyfriend are extremely high. As her older sister, I want to support her first romance.”
“……”
“I personally recommend the second option. It wouldn’t be bad for you either, right? Just look at her. You can tell how rich Sunae is.”
She wasn’t wrong. In a way, it was the only choice that could return this abnormal situation to normal. But…
‘While I’ve been quietly listening, it’s clear that Ji-eun is being completely disregarded.’
It was only natural, I suppose. Just looking at Moyong Sunae, and now Moyong Dahae in front of me, it was obvious they were on a completely different level from Hwangbo Ji-eun. Come to think of it, hadn’t she corrected me on how to address them earlier? I’d already sensed it then. We were ‘employees,’ and Moyong Sunae was the ‘president.’
‘Most people would probably choose the second option here.’
It was realistic. Logical. In some ways, even wise. That must be why Moyong Dahae looked so confident, as if she already knew exactly what I would choose.
Pfft—
“You’re laughing?”
A chuckle had slipped out before I could stop it.
Declare boldly and shamelessly to Moyong Dahae that you will date both women at the same time.
I never thought I’d actually feel grateful for this quest.
“I don’t want to.”
“…What?”
“I said I don’t like either option.”
“……”
I looked at Moyong Dahae, who was frozen in utter disbelief, and drove the final nail in.
“I’m going to have both women.”
At that moment—
BOOM!
An invisible, intangible force slammed down on me. Or at least that’s how it felt to me. In reality, everyone around me, including a furious Moyong Dahae, had recoiled in fear.
“So… you just openly declared in front of me that you’re going to two-time my sister. Did I hear that correctly?”
She wasn’t even raising her voice. The fact that she asked so calmly made it even more terrifying. It was proof that her anger had reached its peak.
“Yes. That’s correct.”
“…You really must have a death wish, you piece of trash.”
“……”
“Or are you so stupid that you don’t even realize what kind of situation you’re in? Or who you’re talking back to?”
As if. Just counting the number of bodyguards around her made it impossible not to understand how powerful Moyong Dahae was.
“I can kill you anytime I want. I really can.”
I could feel she meant every word. My legs were shaking. I was terrified that I might actually die if I was unlucky.
‘I thought I didn’t have many attachments to life… but now that death feels real, I want to live so badly it’s driving me crazy.’
Still, there was something that worried me more than my own death.
“You can mess with me all you want. But please don’t touch my family.”
“Ha… I wasn’t planning to, and there’s no need. Beating the shit out of you will be enough.”
“……”
“I’ll ask one more time. Did I hear you correctly?”
Ah, screw it.
“If you’re asking whether I’m going to two-time them… yes, that’s right. I have no intention of giving up either of them.”
Even as I answered, I thought to myself that Moyong Dahae seemed like a pretty decent person. Anyone else would have already ordered the bodyguards to beat me to death or quietly arrange my disappearance. But she kept asking me again and again. It probably meant she didn’t want to resort to those methods if she could help it. Even aside from the fact that I was in a relationship with her sister.
“Ha, this guy is a real fucking lunatic.”
Wearing a sharp suit and sweeping her bangs back, Moyong Dahae looked incredibly sexy. I lost myself staring at her for a moment. Then she spoke again.
“It’s clear you still don’t understand the situation. I think it’s time to give you a little taste of reality. One of the bodyguards, step forward.”
“Yes, Director.”
The moment she finished speaking, the bodyguards who had been about to rush forward all stepped back at once. In an instant, only one hulking man stood in front of me.
“……”
I wasn’t a kid anymore, but the sheer pressure radiating from him made it hard to even meet his eyes. It wasn’t just his size. Even through his suit, his muscles were clearly defined. My own pathetic body was nothing compared to his.
“We can’t let Sunae find out, so make sure it doesn’t leave any visible marks. Just teach him a lesson.”
“Understood, Director.”
Crack. Crack.
The muscular man—no, the bodybuilder—cracked his knuckles while glaring at me with murderous intent.
‘Wow, this doesn’t feel real at all.’
Honestly, the stalker who had swung a kitchen knife at Hwangbo Ji-eun felt way more realistic than this. This felt like I’d stepped into a drama. After all, when would an ordinary person like me ever face off against a professional bodyguard?
‘Looking back, everything I’ve done so far has felt completely unreal.’
Once again, the ring was right. The moment I obtained the Power of God, my life could never be normal again. Seeing it like this, the damn thing really doesn’t say anything wrong. In that case, I had no choice but to trust it. That this insane thing I was doing right now was truly the ‘optimal path.’
“Please go easy on me.”
“What a joke. Even without the Director’s orders, as a man I can’t possibly forgive you. Calling you trash would be an insult to actual garbage.”
The moment he finished speaking, the bodyguard swung a kick straight at my abdomen.
‘I can see it!’
If this had been before all my stats increased by 1, I wouldn’t have seen it coming. The kick was so fast and precise that I wouldn’t have been able to react. But now, I could see it and dodge.
Tap, tap, step—
I stumbled backward in a rather ugly way, but I still dodged it.
“……”
The bodyguard stared at me expressionlessly for a moment, then threw the exact same kick again. I tried to dodge it the same way, but—
“Ugh!”
Strangely, this time I couldn’t avoid it. The kick was much faster and sank far deeper into my gut than before.
“Cough, cough…!”
I’d only taken one kick to the stomach, yet I could barely breathe. It felt like all my internal organs had been twisted. It was clearly a properly trained kick, not some amateur move.
“Take a few more of those and you’ll damage your organs or even crack a rib. You should book a hospital appointment in advance.”
You crazy bastard. Who the hell would thank you for giving helpful advice in a situation like this?
“Still, you’ve got pretty good endurance, huh? I can hit you a bit more comfortably now.”
The muscleman wasn’t wrong. If this had been the old me, I would have collapsed on the ground foaming at the mouth, screaming that I was dying.
‘Holy shit, just how strong is the effect of raising all stats by 1?’
I’ve told you before.
By human standards, it’s ‘quite’ high.
The ring’s answer gave me a glimmer of hope.
‘What are my chances of beating that guy right now?’
Well…
If you use all your abilities appropriately, I’d say there’s a 97% chance you could win?
Right. The ring had said it had never spoken falsely. In that case, it was worth trusting.
“Come at me, muscleman!”
“This guy’s hilarious.”
The muscleman gritted his teeth and threw the same kick at me again. I focused my eyes with everything I had and stared at the incoming strike.
"Psychokinesis activated."
⟨ Psychokinesis ⟩
—Hesitation!
In that instant, the muscleman’s kick visibly slowed down. Even as I felt like my eyes were about to burst from the strain, I rushed forward and swung my fist in return.
—Thud!
My punch landed cleanly on his jaw. It must have rattled his brain perfectly, because—
“Ugh?”
After one hit, he staggered and fell flat on his ass.
The sight filled me with a rush of dopamine so intense it felt like my heart would explode.
Holy shit…
It actually works.